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{
    "id": 956124,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/956124/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 373,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ugenya, MDG",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Ochieng’",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2955,
        "legal_name": "David Ouma Ochieng'",
        "slug": "david-ouma-ochieng"
    },
    "content": " Thank you so much, Hon. Speaker. I was waiting to speak to this Bill simply because I can see what has been happening in the country and you would imagine that adoption of children is left to foreigners. It is like it is for people who are white in skin and not for normal Kenyans. The truth is that so many Kenyans indeed adopt children, so many Kenyans care for children. In my formative years, before I went to university, I used to teach at a children’s home where we had more than 1,000 children picked from the streets of Nairobi, Nakuru and Eldoret and given a chance to go to school at a place in Ndalani called the Mully Children’s Home. Most of these kids could not trace their homes. Most of them did not know their parents. When they got to 17 or 18 years and going to university or college, most of them would want to leave and go elsewhere. What is important in this Bill is to make it easier for Kenyans to adopt children and to recognise that parenting is a very important issue and adoption is part of parenting. If you have made a decision as a Kenyan to adopt a child, then the Government should come in and make it easier for you to do so by giving you enough time and enough room to think through it. Pre- adoption is a very important process in adoption. This is the time you check whether you really want to have this kid with you. That is why you need this period to test compatibility and whether the child would want to stay with you. So, Hon. Wangari is saying that we should give adopting parents a chance to acclimatise and get used to this situation. You are not giving birth. You are just given a child that is already alive. That is why we are saying that over and above the maternity and paternity leave that parents get you need to give them a chance before they adopt so that they are able to make a decision whether they will do so or not. However, my attention has been drawn to the proposed Section 29A(1)(b), which says that in case of a female employee who is married, the employee shall be entitled to three consecutive months pre-adoption leave with full pay from the date of placement of the child. But paragraph (c) says that in case of a male employee who is married, the employee shall be entitled to two weeks pre-adoption leave with full pay. I ask myself why. The female employee is not giving birth. She is taking care of a child that has already been born. So, why would you discriminate between the female and male employee? At the right time I will be proposing that if you are giving the female employee three months, do the same for the male employee. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, you know this because of your profession. Nowadays in considering where you are going to place a child, for example, in times of divorce or separation, so many things are considered. Sometimes you see children choosing to stay with their fathers. In most instances, indeed, courts grant custody of children to fathers. So, I would not know why Hon. Wangari decided that this should be reduced to two weeks. You are giving one parent 14 days and another one 90 days. Adoption is almost the same procedure. Parents need almost the same period of time to be able to acclimatise with the kid. So, I would propose that the period being given be the same. I also want to join those who are proposing that there should be some incentives for such parents. You walk around this country and you see penury. As a Member of Parliament, every day you will be swamped with requests for school fees and most of the requests are from orphans. So, if someone is willing to add one parentless individual to their family, the Government should be able to give incentives. If it is not tax exemption, then it could be things to do with housing because you are housing an extra person and providing a service that Kenya needs to have. Taking care of our children is very important. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}